I was reading the Bob Smizik blog yesterday and one of his posts was about Joe Flacco and how ESPN football insider John Clayton called him an elite quarterback.
From the article, it appeared that Clayton formed this opinion based almost solely on observing him at Raven's camp. He's bigger, is better at the play-action pass and apparently has a new "swagger."
That's quite an opinion to form on a few days of Raven's training camp. But why am I surprised? I mean, it's the Ravens. Naturally, the national media is going to go out of their way to use any shred of evidence possible to convince themselves and the general public that Baltimore is one of the teams to beat.
Clayton also said that Flacco knows how to win because he's performed well in the playoffs the last two years. Oh really? Here are Flacco's stats in 5 AFC playoff games: 120 attempts and 57 completions. 1 touchdown and 6 interceptions. His quarterback rating in those 5 games is something like 45.
Ok, if that's elite, I'd hate to see what totally mediocre is.
Ben Roethlisberger led his team to a Super Bowl title in his second year and people like Clayton, and that idiot, Trent Dilfer, were unwilling to call him an elite quarterback. So far, Flacco has been the epitome of a game-manager and suddenly he's elite.
Maybe he will be elite someday, but right now, there is no evidence to suggest so.
I just don't understand why the national media falls all over themselves to praise Baltimore. They're the sexy pick every season. I could see if it was the Cowboys or Raiders or some team with a national following. But the Ravens? Just don't get it.
Ray Lewis must have something pretty incriminating on the national guys.
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